"This is Coach Adamson's car," he called back. "I have confirmed it with the staff office. I haven't searched inside yet, but it looks to be unlocked, so we might not need the key. Anyway I peered through the window and this is weird, May! Weird!"
"What is it?"
May hurried closer.
Owen was bent over the passenger window, gazing through the lightly tinted glass.
"Can you see anything?" she asked.
"Have a look," he said.
May bent over and gazed along with him.
She drew in a gasp.
"Those? What are they?"
Immediately, she saw a face she recognized on a printed page. Sadie's face was staring out from it.
May's mouth felt dry. She couldn't believe it. Right here, right now, it seemed they had the evidence they needed.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
May couldn’t believe that at this critical time, they might possibly have found something that could make this case watertight. Her heart was pounding with excitement as she quickly pulled on the gloves that Owen was handing to her, and scraped her hair back, trapping it under a head cover. If Adamson had been careless about leaving things in his car, that also meant the car could be a treasure trove of trace evidence. It would need to be forensically examined, but for now, May didn't want to delay the initial search.
She grabbed the car door and yanked it open.
There, on the passenger seat, was a folder labeled "Athletic Reports."
So innocent looking, if it had not been for that corner of a page jutting out, and Sadie's distinctive photo being visible.
"Son of a gun," May muttered.
She grabbed the folder and opened it up, her heart thumping with excitement. This was not a folder of athletic reports.
Owen hissed in a breath.
"What was he up to?" he whispered incredulously.
She saw at least a dozen photos of Sadie, printed out in full, glossy color. Each one must have been snapped by Coach Adamson, at different moments during the school day.
May glanced at the photos, feeling horrified and angry.
The first photo showed Sadie on the steps at school, talking to a group of friends. They were all laughing. In the next one that he'd taken, she was standing by her locker, chatting to another friend. In the next one, out on the track, she was jogging and smiling.
In the next one, she was walking from her car to the school entrance.
"He had her practically under surveillance," May murmured. "She didn't even know he was watching her!"
“He's been spying on her.This is seriously strong evidence. He’ll go down for this,” Owen said with a tight voice. "This is just proof that he's been stalking Sadie all over town. Any jury would take one look at this and nail him. Nail him good."
May flipped back through the folder.
There were pictures of Alyssa. Her heart clenched as she saw the pretty girl in her cheerleader outfit, still smiling, still unaware that her life was in danger. Smiling at a point to the right of the camera, she was seemingly unaware that she was being photographed.
May peered closely at the photo. "He was watching her all the time. That's how he gets away with it. He knows them, and he's charming."
"This is creepy," Owen said. "She looks so happy. This is a school day, and he's watching her and taking these pics. At school! As a teacher."